While you are staying home and staying safe, you can now view sessions from the 2020 Ohio 4-H Conference! Our conference was cancelled, but a number of presenters recorded their sessions and more than 30 videos are now available at https://ohio4h.org/…/ohio-4-h-conference/2020-ohio-4-h-conf….
Thanks to all who took the time to record their presentations. #4HGrows #TrueLeaders
We are at the end of another week of quarantine and still busy as ever!
I would like to keep the updates coming, so I am including some information below for our 4-H families.
Senior Fair Board met Thursday night via Zoom and wanted to let everyone know that they are still moving forward with planning fair. Fair might look different but it is really still too early to tell what is going to happen. Much of the decision in in the hands of the governor’s office. The Senior Fair Board is making a point to be proactive and start thinking about Plan B options, if we cannot have our fair as normal. They are trying to do whatever they can and keeping our youth and community’s safety in mind. They will be organizing more meetings via Zoom and I will try to keep the lines of communication between us all open as best as I can.
As for livestock registrations, please keep an eye out on email, Facebook, Instagram and this blog for the link to be posted next week. Registrations will be posted early next week for market hogs, rabbits, market lambs, market goats, horses and beef & dairy feeders. At this point in time, I can tell you there will be no lamb and goat tag-in and that all market ID tags will have to be picked up at the office after July 13th when we HOPEFULLY return to the Extension office. To which all market lambs, goats, hogs, and feeders will be self-tagged at home. There will also be required picture identification for animals. We will be asking for a head shot and side view of your animals you are registering. For lambs and goats, we also need an up close picture of the scrapie ID in the animal’s ear!
The poultry letter is posted on the link below and has the information we typically send youth to order from hatcheries.
*Note- this will be the same link you will go to for registrations when they are posted next week!
Registrations will be collected via mail to the Extension office or scanned and emailed to antill.19@osu.edu. Original copies can be supplied once the Extension office staff returns to working in the office.
If there are families that absolutely cannot access the forms due to internet or printing issues, please let us know. We can work with those who need accommodations.
Registration Due Dates are as follows:
Hogs, Horses, & Rabbits – June 1st
Lambs & Goats – June 6th (the previously scheduled tag-in day)
Beef & Dairy Feeders – June 15th
Committees that will be meeting via Zoom in the coming weeks:
4-H Council Scholarship Interviews – 5/5/2020
4-H Council Meeting – 5/7/2020
Jr Fair Board – 5/28/2020
Senior Fair Board – 5/28/2020
4-H Teen Ambassadors – TBD
4-H Horse Committee – TBD
I just wanted to let you know how appreciative I am of all the support and understanding you have shown during this difficult time. It has been a learning experience for us all and navigating a virtual 4-H program is not easy for all of us. We are in this together and I hope that if you have questions, please reach out. Just remember, when reaching out, keep mindful of how you come across when presenting concerns to those around you. Other’s are very much in the same boat and are trying to come up with solutions to the problems. Please, know that if you call in on an angry rant, it will not get you anymore help than what we can provide. We are doing what we can to accommodate the needs of our youth and community with the means that we have available.
To our new families that are joining us in this adventure of a year! This is not a typical 4-H year for any of us and if you feel the need to reach out; my office door may not be open right now, but I am still just a phone call away!
Stay safe & stay healthy!
Sincerely, 😊
Crystal Antill
4-H Program Assistant
Make sure to take a picture of yourself with your clover! #4HChallengeAccepted!
First person to locate and post a picture with their clover will win a prize!
Good Luck finding your luck!
Want to win prizes? Belmont County 4-H Program is doing weekly and daily challenges on social media platforms. Check out our Facebook page and our Instagram page for challenges. To secure entry for prizes, you must take a picture or video of your completed challenge and post to social media #4HChallengeAccepted!
No Facebook or Instagram? No problem! Email pictures or videos with name to Crystal Antill at Antill.19@osu.edu and she will post it for you!
1st Weekly Challenge…is for the birds!
Since we just celebrated Easter, this challenge works well. Simple activity to use some of those old plastic eggs for a great cause. Make bird see eggs to hang in trees, using 3 simple ingredients!
2 cups bird seed
2 packets of unflavored gelatine
1/2 cup hot water
Dissolve gelatine in hot water and stir into bird seed. Pack into egg molds and let set for a day. Remove molds and string with twine and hang for the birds.
Visit the following sites for some patterns you can use and for any questions, please contact us to get in touch with someone.https://www.deaconess.com/How-to-make-a-Face-Mask
Sweetredpoppy.com
Words of a fellow 4-H Professional. She stated this very well and we thought she hit the nail on the head! So we are sharing…
“As 4-H educators, we have been receiving a lot of questions related to whether families should move forward with purchasing market livestock for fair. What if we don’t have a fair? What will I do with my animal? Or, the one that hurts the worst, what if I lose all my money?
My response to all these questions is a question itself. What are you in this for? What do you hope to gain?
If you are in 4-H so that your child can learn about the effort that goes into raising livestock and producing food animal products, get the animal.
If you are in 4-H so that your child can become a better citizen or learn about goal setting or gain effective leadership skills, get the animal.
If you are in 4-H so that your child can be a step above their peers, so that they can develop a sense of belonging, mastery, independence and generosity, get the animal.
If you are in 4-H so that your child can learn about resilience, determination and never giving up hope (even in the middle of a pandemic), get the animal.
But, if you are in 4-H so that your child can sell their animal for twice what you invested in it, don’t get the animal.
If you are in 4-H so that your child can bring home a big banner or a shiny trophy, don’t get the animal.
If you are in 4-H so that you can boast to co-workers and friends about how your child beat out 15 other people’s children to be the coveted “Grand Champion,” don’t get the animal.
Ultimately, if you do this thing called 4-H so that you can clean up at the county fair and earn awards, money and bragging rights, don’t get the animal. Because I can’t guarantee you those things this year.
I can only guarantee you this:
The agricultural community is powerful. The loyalty and camaraderie among us is bigger than words can describe. Even if we are unable to have fair in the traditional sense, we will do everything humanely possible to ensure youth have the opportunity to display their work. Whether it’s posters or videos or, fancier yet, virtual judgings, we will go to the ends of the Earth to save the 4-H experience for your children. We will work cooperatively with the Junior and Senior Fair Boards and Sale Committee to help with arrangements for animals. We will not strand you with a project; instead, we will work right alongside you to figure out where that animal can go. Whether it’s taking it to a packer five minutes up the road or loading it on a trailer headed halfway across the U.S., we will do the best job that we can to help you navigate the “end-game.” And lastly, we can guarantee you that your child will learn. That, despite limited club meetings or seven days at the county fair, your child will learn the important things. The things that matter. They will fill the days of this pandemic with hope as opposed to grief. Your child will develop a relationship with their animal(s) like they never have before, because, quite frankly, it’s one of the few things they have left.
Is there a chance their experience will be different this year? Yes.
Is there a chance they will lose money? Yes.
As a result, is their 4-H year a lost cause? Should they just give up?
I’ll leave that up to you.”
Shared from:
Cassaundra Dietrich
Extension Educator Shelby County,
4-H Youth Development